Quid pro Quo II – Reducing Guns in America

TO-DO: verify calcs

TO-DO: find out where the 15m figure comes from….

Assume that reducing the number of guns will reduce gun deaths in the USA.  Seems far-fetched, but humour me…

How about spending 45B$ to get rid of 15m[3] assault rifles, pistols, anything that’s not specifically for hunting (refer to my method for rationally evaluating a weapon’s danger score).  Hereafter referred to as bguns (for bad guns, of course!!).

Must be in working condition; not eligible if rendered irreversibly non-functioning.  My “danger score” method makes this easy… a irreversibly non-functioning gun would have a very low danger score, perhaps similar to a club.

Offer 2K$, amnesty exchange (but ID req’d for payment retails (to prevent criminals???)), for 1 year, starting “now”.  For new (should be easy to determine if shot/never.shot?), must have been purchased before “now”.

Assume the 80/20 rule (we’re talking 2K$ / bgun… I posit many “…my dead hands!” folk would reconsider, especially with semi-auto assault-style rifles <US$750[1], pistols <US$250[2]), we’re left with 0.2 x 15m = 3m remaining.  If it can fire, or can easily be made to fire, it’s worth 2K$.  Cash.  Tax-free.

Then, on the last day, offer a substantially higher buyback ($5K / bgun ) for a limited time (3 months??), and stress this is it; no more amnesty buyback after this.  Assuming again 80/20, we’re left with 0.2 * 3m = 0.6m remaining, at a cost of $US15B for this second round.

So,  in 1.25 years, at a cost of $US45B, a 96% reduction in bguns.

Might need to use a reverse auction; should come out to the same numbers, I think.  Maybe start with $10K / bgun, limited to the first 1 million; advertise like hell that this one-time thing.  Then, the day the first tranche is completed, drop the reward to $2K, now last chance, but if we do it again, it’s $500 or something.

Pro:

• did I mention 96% reduction in bguns in 1.25 years?
• completely up the the owners of the bguns.  Certainly no real conservative would object to what a free citizen can do with their own property.
• NRA can’r complain, since the government isn’t restricting anything.
• ???

Con:

• how to keep the 2nd step (increase reward to $10K) secret, otherwise…
• would need to also ban the sale of newbguns… or, if we only allow existing bguns (if fired, must be accompanied by reciepts to prove it was purchased before the amnesty start date, no excpetions.)
• ????

Notes

1. Ruger AR-556 Semin-auto Model 8500, US$700.
2. Ruger LCP Semi-auto 0.308 Pistol, US$200.
3. Where did I get this 15 million figure from?  I read it somewhere, dammit!
   1. Not here: Slate.